December 12, 2009

A DVD (Including DVD-ROM PDF file) created by Tom Daniel.
All videos were remastered by Tom Daniel.

What is known about Minoo Mumtaz?
She's Mehmood's sister. And that's it. We don't know when or where she was born, anything about her family, childhood, dance training, early acting experiences, marriage (if any), children (if any), or even if she's still with us in the land of the living. All we have to go on is what remains in the films. That's a lot, for sure, but it's not nearly enough.She appeared as a fully mature actress and dancer in 1955 and appeared in 47 films, if IMDB's record is to be trusted. 1959 was her peak year when she appeared in 10 movies.

After 1964 her career was just about over, appearing in only 6 movies afterwards, and in no year more than one movie. So, effectively, her career lasted only 10 years. In some films she only acted, 1958's Yahudi, 1960's Bindya, and 1961's Chote Nawab being three examples. She often was paired with the male comic, and provided quite a bit of comedy herself, in dialog and sometimes with the dancing. She was often the female lead's best friend. And at least once she was the baddie (1959's Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan). But she's best known today for her glorious dancing. Whether a mujra, dancing as part of a qawaali, an item number or cabaret, classical or filmi, she mastered them all, and it's mostly for these dances that this DVD is being created. - Tom Daniel.

With brother Mehmood

With Kishore Kumar

With Johnny Walker

With Helen

Now available here at MediaFire. Can also be found at Bwtorrents.com in the "Music Videos DVD" section.

September 9, 2009

Today, 9-9-09, marks the worldwide release of the newly remastered Beatles catalog. The Beales changed the world and Bollywood was no exception. What follows are songs that were heavily influenced by the Beatles' music. Special thanks to itwofs.com for compiling the list of songs.

First up, Shankar-Jaikishan's "Dil Use Do Jo Jaan De De" from Andaz (1971) which was inspired by "With A Little Help From My Friends" from 1967's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band."

Anu Malik's "Paagalpan Chaa Gayaa" from Jaanam (1992) is strikingly similar to "And I Love Her" from "A Hard Days Night" released in 1964.

"Jaane Bhi De Sanam Mujhe" from Around The World (1967) is another Shankar-Jaikishan song. This time they borrow some of the melody from the Beatles' "I'll Get You" from 1964.

Of course the Beatles, in particular George Harrison, were influenced by Indian classical music. In 1967, George studied the sitar with maestro Ravi Shankar.

Some would say George's "Within You, Without You" from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has elements of Naushad's "Ek Shahinshah Ne Banavake" from Leader (1963).

In 1968, The Beatles went to India and studied transendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They also wrote some of their greatest songs while there. Many of which appeared on the "White Album." The Beatles occasionally used Indian instrumentation on their songs. "Norwegian Wood," "The Inner Light," and "Love You To" prominently feature the sitar, tabla and other musical instruments.

August 18, 2009

Now available at DesiTorrentsThe third volume of the series spans 27 years of Helen's illustrious career from Alibaba And Forty Thieves (below) released in 1954 to Chorni (1981). As usual, all videos were remastered to the best of my ability for optimal viewing pleasure. So, I hope you enjoy them!

Here's a brief explanation of what was done technically:

Video

Grain and compression artifacts have been greatly reduced thanks to application of the Neat Video™ filter!Video has been sharpened, brightened and color corrected as needed with various avisynth and virtualdub filters.